Now a little further up the hill, we lost a ped who was similarly jaywalking earlier this year. I guess we could blame accidents like that the 30 MPH speed limit in front of Trader Joe’s, but that’s not how I’d look at it.

I’d look at it by trying to get inside the peds’ heads to try to think of a way to get them to not kill themselves.

Oh well.

“Masonic Avenue Street Design Study

Engineering hearing on proposed changes, May 13, 2011

Masonic Street Redesign Study final report (PDF)

The survey results from the third community meeting, held on September 30, 2010, at San Francisco Day School (PDF), are available.

About the Project

The primary goal of the Masonic Avenue Street Design Study is to identify how Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street can safely and efficiently accommodate the needs of all roadway users, including but not limited to pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and Muni. The project is funded by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority through the Prop K half-cent local transportation sales tax program.

Objectives:

1. Engage representatives of all constituencies within the community who would be impacted by changes to Masonic Avenue including, but not limited to, residents on Masonic Avenue, residents on side-streets, merchants, school representatives, bicyclists, Muni customers and pedestrians.

2. Improve transit operation.

3. Improve pedestrian and non-motorized access to transit.

4. Increase the safety of pedestrian crossings.

5. Increase motorist compliance with traffic rules and regulations.

6. Reduce the number of vehicular collisions, especially those involving pedestrians and bicyclists.

7. Support neighborhood vitality by creating a more inviting and accommodating public realm.

Community meeting presentations

The following presentations from the various community meetings are available from the San Francisco Planning Department website:

First community meeting presentation, June 15, 2010, Day School, PDF, 7MB Second community meeting presentation, Aug. 10, 2010, Day School, PDF, 7MB Third community meeting presentation, Sept. 30, 2010, Day School, PDF, 6MB

Things were worse back in aught-seven, back when drivers waiting to fill up at the always-cheap ARCO station on Fell Street in the EaPA would queue up big in the bike lane. But it’s no picnic these days neither, as you can see in this shot from a few days ago:

“‘We have a design hashed out to take out parking on the south side of Fell Street,’ James Shahamiri, MTA Assistant Traffic Engineer, told BIKE NOPA. The new design would designate the former parking spaces as a curbside queue for motorists awaiting entry to the gas station.”

(IMO, that’s a painfully obvious solution that any other town in ‘Merica would have implemented years ago when the issue first cropped up. But oh well.)

So, you see them cars parked on the left side? You know, the Porsche 944 (or 968?), the Saturn S-Series, and the Honda CR-V cute-ute SUV? They’re parked in spaces that could soon be the ARCO queue.

What’s that, NIMBY? Over your dead body you say? O.K., well, I think this cake is already baked, but maybe you’ll be able to hear more about all the deets at this meeting: